EOIR
Announces Latest Disciplinary Actions Under Rules of Professional
Conduct

Two Attorneys Immediately Suspended; Two Receive Final
Orders

The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) has taken disciplinary
action against four attorneys after charging them with violations of the rules
of professional conduct for immigration practitioners. These rules appear
in Title 8 of the Code of Federal Regulations (8 CFR Parts 3 and 292). In
each of the first three disciplinary matters cited below, violations arose out
of sanctions imposed by other jurisdictions.

Disciplinary proceedings began in each case with a Notice of Intent to
Discipline filed with the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) by the Office of
the General Counsel of EOIR or of the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS). In each of the first three disciplinary matters cited below, the
BIA ordered each attorney to be suspended immediately from practice before the
Immigration Courts, the BIA, and the DHS. The BIA also required these
attorneys to respond to the alleged violations.

Immediate Suspension

The BIA ordered the immediate suspensions of the following attorneys:

Ernesto Valdes: He was disbarred from practice by the State
Bar of Texas, and was immediately suspended by the BIA on May 29, 2003,
pending final disposition of his case.

Richard A. Williams: He was temporarily suspended from the practice
of law by the Connecticut Superior Court, and was immediately suspended by the
BIA on May 29, 2003, pending final disposition of his case.

Final Orders of Discipline

The BIA issued Final Orders of Discipline against the following
attorneys:

Michael Louis Leavitt: He was suspended for 18 months from
the practice of law in New York, and was immediately suspended by the BIA on
April 8, 2003, pending final disposition of his case. The Final Order of
May 28, 2003, suspends him from practice before the immigration tribunals for
18 months, effective as of March 21, 2002.

Jose Quinones: He engaged in “egregious conduct..[that]
constituted ineffective assistance [of counsel]” while representing a client
in a deportation hearing. The Final Order of June 16, 2003, imposes a
public censure for his egregious actions at the deportation hearing and orders
him to refrain from such actions in the future.

Summary

In each of the disciplinary matters cited above, the suspended attorney was
directed to notify promptly, in writing, any clients with cases currently
pending before the BIA, the Immigration Courts, or the DHS that he or she may no
longer represent clients before these tribunals.

The rules of professional conduct include provisions specifying grounds for
disciplinary action, requirements for receiving and investigating complaints,
and procedures for conducting hearings. The rules also authorize the BIA
to suspend immediately a practitioner who has been subject to disbarment,
suspension, or resignation with an admission of misconduct as imposed by a state
or Federal court, pending a summary proceeding and final sanction.

EOIR announces these disciplinary actions to inform the public about
practitioners who are not authorized to represent any matter before an
immigration tribunal. EOIR also posts a list of suspended and expelled
practitioners on its Web site at http://www.usdoj.gov/eoir.

EOIR is a component of the Department of Justice which, on behalf of the Attorney
General, adjudicates cases involving aliens who are charged with immigration
law violations. EOIR has more than 220 Immigration Judges located in
52 Immigration Courts nationwide to conduct proceedings and decide individual
cases. The agency also includes the BIA to hear appeals of Immigration
Judge and DHS district directors’ decisions, and the Office of the Chief Administrative
Hearing Officer to handle employment related immigration matters.